Well, maybe not fun, but less annoying for sure!

You’ve probably encountered a 404 or “Page Not Found” error in your web browsing experience. It is an HTTP standard response code indicating that “the client was able to communicate with the server, but the server could not find what was requested. 404 errors should not be confused with “server not found” or similar errors, in which a connection to the destination server could not be made at all. A 404 error indicates that the requested resource may be available again in the future.” This kind of error is commonly displayed after you click a broken link or follow a link to a page that has moved or no longer exists on a website. (If you want more technical details, check out Wikipedia.)

Of course no one wants their website to have errors, but sometimes they occur. There is definitely value in taking a little time to dress up your “Error” or “404″ page to decrease the frustration when a user encounters it. So what can you do to make the navigation process on your website less of a headache to users?

Online video watching is steadily increasing among all user demographics. Below you will find some statistics from a survey by Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project.

Following our recent articles on Generations Online in 2010 – Statistics, Who’s Online? A look at Who Is, and How People Are, Accessing the Internet, and Twitter Statistics and Info on Usage, we now present part of the findings of a survey by Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project on social networking site usage across the generations.

As part of the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project, Pew conducts regular surveys to gather information on who is interacting on the web, how people are accessing it, and what they are doing when they are there. As 2010 draws to a close, we have looked at Generations Online in 2010 – Statistics and Twitter Statistics and Info on Usage in 2010. In this article we will review more data from Pew on people’s activities online.

The fine researchers at Pew Internet and American Life have released their findings on what differently-aged internet users are doing online. “There are still notable differences by generation in online activities, but the dominance of the Millennial generation that we documented in our first “Generations” report in 2009 has slipped in many activities.” This is good news for marketers trying to reach older customers online who are quickly embracing (and even surpassing their younger cohorts) online life.

“Eight percent of the American adults who use the internet are Twitter users. It is an online activity that is particularly popular with young adults, minorities, and those who live in cities.” – Pew Research Center, December 2010

In less than 4 years, micro-blogging/social networking site Twitter has grown to tens of millions of users. With that, we have seen its demographics change as people adopted the tool, brands embraced the medium, and celebrities popularized it. The Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project recently released a new report on who is using Twitter. We will take a look at that data in this article.

Facebook is looking to encourage user check-ins through their Places feature by providing brick and mortar stores with a new (and currently free) viral marketing opportunity through “Deals”. Deals allows you to create special deals on Facebook through a claimed Facebook Place – meaning you have to have claimed a Place to begin with. It can be managed through your Fan Page, and there are different types of deals you can create based on your needs. Read on for a visual walk through on how to create a Deal.

This week Washington, DC played host to the annual Government Video Expo. In addition to an exhibit hall full of equipment and technology (and more displays playing Avatar than I ever care to see again) there certification classes, paid conference sessions, free presentations, and community meetings. The Expo runs Nov 30-Dec 2 2010, but I attended yesterday to scope out the scene, walk the tradeshow floor, and see what the manufacturing industry had to offer. In this article I will talk about the presence (and lack) of social media among attendees, and advice on how to get work as a freelancer for government agencies, in addition to mention some of the sessions I attended.

A new social marketing tool was launched over the Thanksgiving holiday – just in time for the shopping frenzy that is the Holiday season. And as today is “Cyber Monday”, (or the monday after “Black Friday”) I thought it would be a good time to do a write up to introduce you to the fledgling site and clever tool that is GoPromoIt.com.

If you use a management tool like Tweetdeck or Hootsuite or Cotweet than you can already post simultaneously (and independently) to both your Facebook and Twitter Accounts. But for the casual user, being able to link your Twitter to your Facebook Profile OR a Page may be helpful. There are two ways this link can go: 1) Auto post all Twitter posts (excluding DMs and @replies) to your Facebook Page or Profile; 2) Auto post all Facebook posts, photo uploads, notes, etc to Twitter.

This guide will walk you through: Auto Posting your Twitter Updates to Facebook.